There was devils snare? Here? Like, in the shrieking shack? NEAR HER?! 'Don't look like an idiot Ev. You already freaked out over the spiders. Don't let anyone see you freaking out over this.' But considering what happened last time with the devils snare, they probably already knew.

So, instead of running out of the place, she stood perfectly still with an emotionless expression. Possibly too still. Might have made herself look like a statue,aaand she was really panicking on the inside. Really, really panicking. 'So I'm surrounded by spiders and devils snare. It likes my own personal little nightmare.' At least they could keep their wands right? Just in case though, she took a few steps backwards and away from Professor Bun...something. Well on the bright side, at least she was remembering the first part of the Professors name. Success!!

Dodging Jake and his freakish monster, Evelyn stared at the door. Door of evil and death, that's what it was. So what were they doing? Killing a snare plant? A snare plant that, unlike the last one they saw, liked to torture for the fun of it? Yup, definitely a nightmare. So now they were talking about...something...fire and sunlight? Yea, something about that. Must, pay, attention!

Oh? They were going over there now? Truebridge remained quiet and once they reached the door he took his hand back. It was a good hand.

He listened to the answers and glanced at Annie. Plants were her thing. He examined his temporary wand and waited for things to... get interesting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SenoritaMaxie

Fyo raised his hand. "One would probably have to ward off a bad batch if it's insistent on harming one - even when one wishes, or causes, it no damage... or maybe one needs it? For a potion that can save a life a life, or something like that?" Yeah? Yeah. "... and, well, we know it's scared of light, so maybe LOTS of sunlight? We could levitate it - from a good, safe distance, of course - into an open, well-lit space or, more effectively, produce a good bit of fire that keeps it back. Unless you're asking for ways to ... destroy it, professor?"

It did not seem like Professor Bunbury could ever ask for something like that - no, not ever - and Fyo did NOT like that prospect.

At all.

"Ah, ah ha, yes," Bunbury's eyes kept drifting back to that door but she managed to focus on Fyo for a minutes. "You can't really levitate the more uh... monstrous... varieties... and it does have its uses in certain healing potions and things...."

Most of which she would not describe in detail in case one of these children fancied himself a Snare Wrangler.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Celandine

"Fire." Celandine answered, hand up as she rolled along behind the Professors. Had to be fire, right? Light made it all eeeeee!unhappy, but fire made it all blaaaaahh!deaded. And why? "It might be a nasty batch or you might have no other choice or you might like, want dead bits of it for something." For what, Cel had no clue but someone out there probably liked dead bits of stuff.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoerawrr

Glaring at Bunbury juuuuust a little when she was all NO at him and then SEEMED to fake a stutter, Jake transferred Charlie the tarantula to his hand and jumped down from the great height he was sitting at. Moving quickly, he rejoined the rest of the class but stood a little far back from eveyone.

Okay...

Alot far back.

Like, beside the entrance to the tunnel far back.

He did NOT want to see Devil's Snare ever again.

Still he raised his hand. "Ssssssunlight... or... FIYAH!"

"Fire. Fire will kill Devil's Snare." Bunbury didn't even acknowledge the two students answering because she kept weirdly staring at that door.

Poor plant. *tear*

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

For a moment, as she stood and stared at the door, LouAnn wondered if saying "I don't know" was a suitable answer. It was to her, but then again, this wasn't her class, was it? She honestly had no idea about special circumstances that would require her to permanently ward off anything. In her eyes, if the plant moved on its own accord, it was worthy of being permanently warded off.

She raised her to ramble off something or another anyway. She had nothing to lose. "What if the plant has been tampered with? You know, controlled by outside magic? It'd probably be really dangerous then, and a person might need to have some more permanent damage control going on," she suggested. "Maybe it's been used to help hide something, and a person...a not-so-nice person, used magic on it."

"Maybe there are lots of reasons. Maybe we don't even know them all. Maybe the Ministry are a lot of interfering buffoons that like to tell much superior and intelligent people how to do their jobs without considering the consequences. Maybe."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessica

Shumeeta raised her hand. "Sunlight or fire," she said confidently. But whyy? "If it wants to harm you without a reason, then?" she more asked than answered.

Quote:

Originally Posted by destinyjazzhands

Some Devil's Snare that's not so nice? No Devil's Snare is nice.

Ehhhh, that was one scary door. With all the vines and scary snare on it. 'Scary Snare.' That made Destiny laugh. But then Bunbury asked a question. A question Destiny didn't know the answer to. But it never hurt to guess, 'Burn it?' Or feed it a very mean, hug-hating professor.

"So yes, you all are correct. Fire is the way to go if you absolutely positively most eliminate a potentially harmful tiny strand of Devil's Snare." Bunz stuck her nose up in the air and motioned the students closer to the door. CLOSER. Come CLOSER MY PRETTIES.

Erm.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NicoT

Oh? They were going over there now? Truebridge remained quiet and once they reached the door he took his hand back. It was a good hand.

He listened to the answers and glanced at Annie. Plants were her thing. He examined his temporary wand and waited for things to... get interesting.

Why did Ethan take his hand back? Annie glanced down at her empty palm and clenched it open and closed. Wand. She needed the wand.

or....

"Professor Truebridge is going to demonstrate the spell Incendio for those of you who do not know it already. Just a small bit, Ethan, and not on the door yet."

She eyed the students again. "When the time comes, we'll blast open this door and you'll have," sigh, "an opportunity to practice on the Snare within. Incendio is the spell, now, and using it usually isn't like Muggles and their silly blowertorchers. A giant burst of flame isn't going to just spring forth from your wand like that."

Duh. They were children which meant they were just a step up from Squibs.

"Before we do anything else, you're all going to.... to...." This was so difficult! Couldn't they just save maybe a corner of the room? A bit of it? Half?

"You're going to practice the spell. And... put some intention behind it... channel some... anger... or something... I don't know." She waved a hand and folded her arms across her chest. Make Ethan teach them the rest. She was upset at the thought of seeing snare become ash.

A small bit? A flicker of disappointment crossed Ethan's face and he held his wand out and ready as Annie finished speaking.

"For anyone who is curious, there are several different types of fire spells, some are, as with any spells, stronger than others or better suited to certain tasks. Do not be concerned if you have difficulty with this spell. It is a conjuring spell and therefore it will be harder for younger students in particular to get the hang of it. For those of you who do not manage to master it to a satisfactory standard for the next portion of this lesson, do not worry, I will help you with an alternative, easier spell."

He cast his eyes around.

"For those of you with pets or inappropriate footwear," Ethan glanced at certain spiders, snakes, rollerskates and glisseo'd shoes, "I suggest putting such things aside, somewhere safe from stray flame. Before I show you the wand movement and you practice the incantation, perhaps a few older students can volunteer to assist in some safety precautions."

you know, for people rather than for plants. Hmm. Was it just him or was Annie a little upset?

No of course not, she was fine. He looked around the students, making sure they were all paying attention and waiting for a few volunteers.

Fred raised his hand and said, "I'll help you professor."

No way dude. This was insane. Jake was all for killing the darn plant... But...

Bunbury didn't look very happy about it. Jake supposed he could be glad he couldn't do much damage. The boy raised his hand, not to volunteer but to ask a question.

"I dddddon't und-underssstand," he said, visibly confused. "Why're we kkkkilling a ppplant... In Herbology. Aren't wwwwe muhhh-meant to care fffor them?"

"I'll volunteer too professor!" Cela raised her hand as she hop!skated around, removing her rollerskates and eventually shrinking them and putting them in her pocket. Her shoes, she took them from where they hung around her neck, untied them and put them on again. She eyed Jake at his question and moved over to him to be all supportive and stuff. She gave him a smile and offered an answer.

"You know how some plants are magical right? Think of the magic as the part that you have to learn how to protect yourself against. Its better to know, just in case, right?"

Umm, Fyo was not sure if he liked where this was going. But it was good, still good, to be in such a cool place. Worth whatever ... THINGS the two professors had in store for the class.

"If there is anything I can help with, I will be glad to, professor," he said, sort of raising his hand, as he looked around.

Put down her snake? Pfft...no way. Okay, maybe she should. Perhaps the snake doesn't like fire and she'd really not have it do anything to really...hurt...her. So, looking around for a place to put him, and not really finding any suitable enough where he would be out of the way and comfortable, very important to be comfortable, she decided to just place him in a corner, away from everyone else. Bending down, she glanced at the eight legged demon monster on Jake before whispering to her snake. "If you need to defend yourself, I totally give you full permission."

Now that the snake was all settled and such, Evelyn stood up and avoided Jake and the spider walked back over to where she previously stood. Away from the others and far away from the door, but still able to see what the Professors were doing.

''It literally means i cannot kill anything'' he explained. 'They should not exist?' Josh had no idea at this point but he could agree that they did not look lovable. ''I'm sorry, hun''

'And, what's with those girls and filthy animals?' One holding a spider and one holding a snake claiming them as pets. He stared at the snake coiling up around her arm as she said 'he' did not want to leave, filthy. Then the Gryffindor's and Slytherin's narrowed eyes met. ''Really?'' he said as she walked away with her snake. He knew how to get rid of it. ''Then there will be only one red and yellow thing around you. Make your choice'' This'd do. He turned to Destiny though he was not sure if Rose heard him.

''And you. You are doing nothing. I meant throwing it away. You cannot keep something like that. It's not a puppy or kitten, only a stupid, creepy...'' his voice trailed off when he realised that Destiny was not holding a spider anymore ''...oh, you already got rid of him. Good.''

He looked up when he heard the lovely (!) Professor Bunbury's voice. She was upstairs and they were moving again...finally! And when he looked down again Destiny was nowhere in sight and who knew where Rose did go. They must have been on their way to upstairs anyhow and putting his wand back at where it was safe, he started to climb upstairs.

They were speaking about that stupid Devil's Snare again. He could not say he was cared of stuff about it anymore for he had survived it plus this time wands were allowed. 'Incendio' was his job 'YAY!' This was going to be too easy for burning an annoying plant to ashes would be fun.

"Time to be safe, Little Fyo III," Shumeeta said with a laugh as she flicked the spider off her shoulder. Gently of course. The little thing seemed to cling to a wall and then it had scuttled away. Aww ....... Shumeeta almost thought she might miss it!

But yes she could volunteer. "I'm ready to help, professors," she said with hand in air.

Mina had become quite attached to her little friend, Mr Snake. Looking at him, she frowned. He was staring back at her and bowed his head, slowly loosening his grip on her arm. Slithering up her arm, he hissed. "You go find a safe spot and I shall find you later," she explained to her friend. He blinked his beady little eyes at her and slithered back down her arm, jumping from her hand to the ground. He slithered away from her and toward the stairs, before dissappearing down them. She was going to miss him, but hopefully afterwards she would find him.

Turning her fully attention back to the door and the professors, she listened. Should she volunteer or should she just watch and learn. She had always been told not to play with fire, but one always does want to do things one shouldn't. Moving a little closer, as she was near the back of the group, she raised her hand. "I'd like to volunteer too."

Dominic looked up - or down rather - as the second year hypoglycemic hufflepuff seemed to find consolation near him. Well, sure, he'd help her ... if he knew what they were doing. No need to tell the girl that Herbology wasn't his strongest subject; he wasn't terrible at it, but not strong at either.



Then the Head Boy heard the familiar clearing of the throat, and he nodded towards the redheaded herbology professor and then back at the second year, as if encouraging her that it was safe to press onward toward the landing. Besides, Truebridge had added a strengthening charm to the rotten stairwell. And Dominic trusted Truebridge to do no harm. Right?

As Dom made his way up the stairwell and stopped at the landing, as directed, he made a brief face at the mildewy stench permeating his nostrils and the ominous door, listening to the questions and answers around him. They were going to burn a plant? Weird; especially since this was supposed to be a course that studied plants, not destroyed them. Of course maybe that was why Bunbury seemed so distraught.


Oh. Volunteers ... from older students. Noting that a few students had already volunteered, Dominic frowned briefly, because Truebridge had requested specifically older students, yet a few of the volunteers looked to be more than first or second years.

"I'll volunteer," Dominic said finally, raising his hand. Because certainly the Professor could use someone at NEWT-level to assist, even if the someone wasn't the 'brightest' at Herbology.

LouAnn shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she listened to Professor Truebridge talk. She didn't have any pets or unusual shoes, but she did have her wand, of course. For a split second, she glanced down at it as she rolled it around in her hand. Soon enough, she'd need it to cast on the plant behind that door. Her eyes flickered around the room as her classmates started volunteering to help. LouAnn could volunteer, too, right? Surely it was something she could handle. She raised her hand slightly to indicate that she was available if need be. "I can volunteer, too," she said, speaking up and joining the ranks of those who'd already agreed to help, as well.

Too nervous to nod back, Wesley followed the Head Boy up the stairs, and stood there, about a foot away from the railing for safety, just staring, wide eyed. Watching.

Listening as Professor Bunbury talked, Wesley managed to hold in the gasp that was threatening to expel. They where going to kill plants? Hadn't they been learning all year about treating plants with respect?

Wesley didn't want to kill plants. And she especially didn't want to kill any devil's snare. She felt an odd comradeship with the plant; they both shared unfortunate names.

Plus, wouldn't the fire end up burning down the shack, and everyone in it?

One of her questions was answered by Professor Truebridge. The shack wasn't going to burn down, because the older students where going to make it fireproof. Or something.

The tiny child was comforted by the fact, until she remembered that Dominic was an older student, and that meant he might have to leave her. She looked up at him quickly, panic stricken, then soon after relaxed, and looked down at her dirt covered shoes. He wasn't really going to leave her- he was just going to cast some spells.

And then...they were all going to cast spells.

So, Wesley decided to pass the time busying herself with trying to come up with something that made her angry. Because Professor Bunbury said to channel angry thoughts. The only problem was, Wesley couldn't think of anything she was particularly mad about right now.

Becca followed the Professors and listened to both speils, minding the spiders and miscellanious objects lying around. She'd tripped once, but kept walking as if it had never happened and was now trying to be attentive. Though it probably would be fun, Becca did not volunteer. She'd rather be more involved when the whole class did not have eyes on her.

Melanie eyed the other kids as she walked out of the tunnel. For some reason, many of then had decided to pick up some sort of bug, or spider from the tunnel...

And Jake had that tarantula of his. Hm. She liked the little kitten better.

Keeping a good distance from allllllll the creepy crawly critters in the room, she waited for Bunbury to give instructions. Then on her direction she marched up the stairs, quite calmly. The girl had ran into a handful of things in her Hogwarts career that were more treacherous than a creaky, old flight of stairs, thank you very much.

It would be a lie to say she was excited to see what she saw at the top of the stairs though. Melanie wasn't fond of the Devil's Snare. Even if they were one of those things that your parents were always saying "If you let it be, it'll let you be" about.

Except for her, growing up that had been bumble bees, not plants that felt the need to strangle things...Big difference. Really, really, big difference.

So, she really wasn't so fond of the plant. However, the girl still wasn't pleased when she heard they were going to be harming the plant. In fact, that didn't please her at all. She didn't like killing flies.

Melanie couldn't really do much about it though. So, a grouchy look on her face, the third year watched as the older students volunteered to help fireproof the shack and....stuff.

Pout.

"Good."

"Thank you for volunteering and yes, thats a fairly good answer for you there, Jake. Herbology, as with all subjects, requires one to learn all aspects of the presented topic. I'm glad to see most of you have a healthy respect for devils snare and certainly destroying it should only be an option if you are left with no other choice and are in a dangerous situation."

"Hmmm." Truebridge considered for a minute. Fyodor was really very intelligent but Ethan had no idea what his wand skills were like. "Not this time, I think. But thank you for volunteering."

"Thank you Shumeeta."

"Good." Truebridge nodded his approval.

"And LouAnn. Thank you."

He cleared his throat.

"Fred, Celandine, Shumeeta, Dominic and LouAnn, if you five would please take these bottles of fire repellant," He took the repellant spray out of his bag and duplicated them easily, "Ensure your classmates are each coated in it, then have your wands ready to cast the flame freezing charm if it becomes necessary."

Safety first.

Oh yes, you could tell Ethan Truebridge had nothing whatsoever to do with arranging that werewolf assembly business the term before. Honestly, that had been ridiculous.

Oh. Tibi didn't like this AT ALL. First, they had to dodge the big tree out to get them. Then they had to go through that icky, nasty tunnel. Then they got into the creepy shack thing. Tibi folded his arms across his chest and refused to explore. And just when he thought it couldn't get any worse?

Dangerous devil's snare?

Casting FIRE in an old building?

They were all gonna die.

Eyes wide, Tibi went over to where the volunteers had received the spray. "Spray. Please." Tibi clenched his eyes tight and pursed his lips.

This was insane.

Celandine beamed and took a spray bottle. She started with herself and then started drenching her housemates, the firsties first. She saw Tibi's worried look and smiled comfortingly.

"I'll make sure you'll be juuuuust fine." She told him, and to her credit actually didn't follow that statement up with 'because I'm awesome at magic' like she normally would have.

Flame freezing charm. She could do that.

Ooo, Destiny wanted to be flame resistant too! If only she had a jar of that stuff the night they were in the pumpkin patch. When they crazy little boy and his heightened senses burned that bush. Poor little bush.

'Spray me, spray me!' Now if Truebridge had something to keep away the Devil's Snare..

They had to spray stuff on themselves? To repel fire... That stuff seriously better not ruin her outfit. She may just have to burn them after this class. 'Oh wait, I can't! Because they'll be flame resistant.' she sarcastically thought, rolling her eyes and stepping forward. Well, she didn't want to be burned by random people not being able to control a flame soooo... "Me too." she spoke quietly, almost sounding a little tired, which will probably change once they do the whole 'fire flame' thing.

Mina stood as still as she could as her turn came to be sprayed. It was kind of cold, but if it was going to prevent her from catching a blaze in anyway, she wasn't going to complain all that much. Looking down at her clothes, she frowned. She did like her outfit, but as they were already spoiled from the tunnel, she didn't really need them after this lesson. Yet another reason for a shopping trip once she got home. Shaking the chill from her body, she smiled a thank you to the older student for spraying her. "Thanks." Turning her attention back to the door, she waited.

Awww. Professor Truebridge did not ... think he could do it? "'Kay, professor," Fyo said brightly. No point being disappointed, was there? He had an awesome miiiniii-adventure to mega enjoy, here!

He waved to Cela, as he waited for her to spray him. Or maybe someone else would get to him, first? Rawrrr.

Safety precautions? Er. Right. Good thing Ethan was a teacher because again, cannot stress this enough, Bunz could care less if a few students accidentally toasted themselves or their classmates.

She was distraught, however, by the mere idea of torching the Devil's Snare behind that door. Sniffle. Sniff. Annie shuffled away from all the stupid spraying going on and shuffle shuffled closer to the door....

Maybe she could just snip a bit off the door and save it? As gnasty and mean as it was, she'd probably lose a hand in the process but IT WOULD BE WORTH IT.

Shufflesniffle.